~ Seasonal fragrance and flavour from my country kitchens in England and France....celebrating local seasonal produce with traditional feasts and festivals, culinary notes, reviews, recipes and musings from home and abroad....whilst preparing family food with flair ~

Lazy Blue and White Lunch:

Garlic Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables Recipe

Who can resist a roast chicken for Sunday lunch – a lovely free-range organic bird slowly roasting, releasing its aromatic fragrance throughout the house, sizzling quietly away in the oven whilst a trip to pub is arranged or maybe a brisk walk with the dog around the block.…….a roast chicken for lunch is a treat, something to be savoured, something to look forward to with anticipation and dare I say with a certain amount of greed; it’s a simple roast, and yet if you were to ask me whether I prefer roast beef or chicken, a plump roast chicken would win hands down every time. And so it was that last Sunday I roasted such a bird – I cooked it slowly in the Aga whilst I helped rake up the autumn leaves in the garden with my husband; a one pan lunch as I also added potatoes, carrots, parsnips and beetroot around the bird, and used my new Mermaid Deep Sided Roasting Pan, a kind review gift sent to me from Mermaid to promote gravy making…..the good old-fashioned way, as you can see from their video clip below:

Although I used my new roaster to make the gravy on top of the hob, as suggested in the video, I didn’t follow their method completely, as I had some lovely Knorr Gravy Pots that had also been sent to me, so I poured in my hot water, and a splash of red wine (I know if is usual to use white wine with chicken, but we rather like the coq-au-vin sort of gravy flavour that you only get with red wine) before adding my Knorr chicken gravy pot ingredients. I have already used Knorr gravy pots before, with roast beef a few weeks ago, as you can see from my beef gravy photo above, and I was very impressed with the taste and flavour, and that is high praise indeed, as I count myself as a rather accomplished gravy maker!

But back to my divine roast chicken; all you need to do is smear it with butter, sprinkle it with some garlic salt, I used some Bart Ingredients Garlic Salt(that was sent to me, along with some other spices and herbs to celebrate the launch of the Spoonkler™, ) and some freshly ground black pepper – then, I popped a bunch of fresh lovage into the chicken cavity, and placed all the prepared potatoes and root vegetables (I used organic veggies from my local farm shop) around the chicken, turning them over and around so they were coated in some of the melted butter that I had greased my roasting tin with. You then cover them all with tinfoil and walk away for just under two and a half hours, whilst it all cooks slowly and tantalisingly……giving you time to read the Sunday papers, have a swift pint down the pub or just chill out. By the way, my Bart Ingredients spices came with a ‘Spoonkler™’ – a dual-sided cap designed for all cooking needs…..and apparently, according to Bart Ingredients, I am a Spoonkler – as I have a rounded approach to cooking and allow for versatility in my method……..they also have a fun video to promote their new Spoonkler range, and you can see it here:

As well as gravy and steamed cabbage, I also served some bread sauce with my roast chicken, and again, I have Knorr to thank for that, as they sent me selection of some of their Gourmet Range sauces, of which one was Bread Sauce. AlthoughI am a dab hand at making my own bread sauce, I thought their sauce was excellent with a nicely defined onion flavour and just a hint of nutmeg – plus, by using their bread sauce mix, it did save me lots of time!

This roast chicken lunch went down an absolute storm, and of course, we had chicken sandwiches with salad for tea, as well as some bubble and squeak for next day’s breakfast, one of the delights of cooking a big roast lunch! I have written about bubble and squeak before, and the recipe, such as it is, is here: The Ultimate Leftovers Feast ~ Bubble and Squeak. One tip, if you cannot source lovage, use celery tops instead, it’s the savoury almost celery like taste that works so well in this recipe……..which I have shared below:

A delectable one pan Sunday lunch - slow-roasting a chicken with vegetables is a great way to keep the chicken nice and moist, whilst cooking the vegetables at the same time, thus saving on fuel. Adding the potatoes and root vegetables to the roasting tin infuses them with plenty of flavour, too, and there is less washing up! The lovage adds a savoury aroma and flavour the chicken as it cooks, and can be chopped up finely and added to the gravy.

Optional

450g beetroot, peeled and cut into chunks

Note

A delectable one pan Sunday lunch - slow-roasting a chicken with vegetables is a great way to keep the chicken nice and moist, whilst cooking the vegetables at the same time, thus saving on fuel. Adding the potatoes and root vegetables to the roasting tin infuses them with plenty of flavour, too, and there is less washing up! The lovage adds a savoury aroma and flavour the chicken as it cooks, and can be chopped up finely and added to the gravy.

Directions

Step 1

Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Brush a large roasting tin all over with butter (I used my Mermaid deep side handled roaster) and smear some over the skin of the chicken.

Step 2

Place the chicken in the tin and arrange the potatoes and root vegetables around it.

Step 3

Put the bunch of lovage in the cavity of the chicken and then sprinkle garlic salt and black pepper all over the chicken, then cover with foil and place in the oven.

Step 4

Cook for 1 hr then remove the foil and give the potatoes and root vegetables a shake, then cook uncovered for 50 mins.

Step 5

Turn the heat up to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Cook for 30 mins more, then remove the chicken from the pan. Cover the chicken loosely with foil and leave to rest on a plate for at least 10 mins before carving. Put the potatoes and root vegetables bake in the oven to finish cooking and crisping up, turning the oven off if they brown too quickly.

Step 6

Serve with gravy, bread sauces and another green vegetable such as cabbage or peas.

I hope you will try my SLOW ROAST chicken with lovage, garlic and root vegetables, it really is an easy peasy, as well as delectable roast lunch, all in ONE roasting tray! And don’t forget, a good organic roasting chicken is NOT just for Sunday, but makes a wonderful mid-week family meal……with the makings of super sandwiches and bodacious breakfasts in the leftovers. That’s all for today, do look out for some new giveaways towards the end of the week, as well as some new recipes, including some new 5:2 Diet recipes. Karen

Garlic Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables

Garlic Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables Recipe

Disclaimer and Thanks:

Thanks to Knorr, Mermaid and Bart Ingredients for sending me samples to try, and review; I was not asked to promote them in any way on my blog, but I chose to write about them as they are all products and ingredients that I use regularly and like. Karen S Burns-Booth

Comments

How lovely Karen. This would be my perfect sunday lunch. I have to admit, I’ve never actually tried bread sauce – I really must! I adore Mermaid baking tins, I would love to try their deep roasting tray – I bet it is immensely useful.

Great minds think alike! But I can see why a good roast chicken is one of our favourite things. Like you I had intended something similar last Sunday but I overslept (oops) and my watch stopped (yikes) so we had to make do with a fast roasted chicken and instead of roasted roots they got grated into a cross between remoulade and coleslaw. Still fab though Love the tip on lovage, I always wondered what it tasted like!

Ooooops! I have had Sundays like that, in the end you can’t fight against it, so I just go with the flow! Lovage is an almost yeasty, celery-like savoury tasting herb; the celery seeds you see in the herb section are usually lovage seeds too…..so, imaging that flavour, but in a fresh green leaf! Karen

Gorgeous Karen – I completely agree with you about roast chicken, far nicer than any other kind of roast. And I love having roast chicken sandwiches too for Sunday evening tea. Delicious looking vegetables cooked with your chicken and so nice that it’s all in one pan!

Your chicken for starters looks top quality and surrounded by all those delicious veggies, I am feeling the need to get a roast going. I have to admit that we rarely have one as Sunday morning tend to be taken up with the allotment or homework and I do find the job would fall on my shoulders so tend to give it a miss. Your one dish version may just sway me as would that beautiful Mermaid tin which I am so envious of!

Thanks Laura, I am not usually this organised, but now and then, I manage to get up early enough to prep my vegetables and sort a Sunday roast out for all of us! The one dish version really is a great way to make a complete roast dinner in one tray and then walk away for a couple of hours, plus, a little bit of help with packet bread sauce and gravy pots now and then does no harm and they really were surprisingly good too. Karen

I like your roast chicken with plenty of garlic (have you noticed that I use a lot of garlic???). Unfortunately, my husband likes only the chicken breast and I find difficult to fit the whole bird on my Sunday menu. A lot of ideas with these products. I like the Mermaid tin, very useful.

I love roast chicken and even more so when everything goes into one pot; saves on effort and washing up! I normally put a lemon in my cavity and have never tried with lovage. I’ll see if my greengrocer can get his hands on some for next time!

Meet Karen

Bienvenue! I'm Karen; it’s lovely to see you here. I share my time between beautiful North Yorkshire and SW France. I am a freelance writer and recipe developer with a passion for art, travel, books, photography, seasonal food and especially cheese! Please do get in contact with me if you have any questions about my work or commissioning me. Read More…